Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to an input terminal of a power module of double-side cooling, and more particularly, to an input terminal of a power module of double-side cooling for inputting power to a power module to which a cooler is mounted in a double-sided direction.
Description of the Related Art
An inverter is required to operate a drive motor equipped in a hybrid or electric vehicle. Various steps can be taken in order to improve efficiency of the drive motor, including down-sizing a power module, which is a type of switch device for composing an inverter, and improving cooling efficiency.
A power module of double-side cooling refers to a power module with coolers mounted on the outside of both circuit boards, typically by installing a semiconductor chip between the two circuit boards. With such a power module, cooling efficiency is high and circuit structure is simple in comparison with a power module of single-side cooling. Thus, the power module of double-side cooling is an important technology for down-sizing a power module.
A conventional power module of double-side cooling is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of semiconductor chips are mounted between an upper circuit board 100 and a lower circuit board 200. Coolers (not shown) provide cooling capability and are mounted on outside surfaces of the upper circuit board 100 and lower circuit board 200. Because a signal terminal and a power terminal cannot be formed in a surface direction of the power module, due to the installation of the coolers, a terminal connection portion must be formed at the side surface of the power module of double-side cooling.
In the case of a conventional “6-in-1 type” power module as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, connection portions of a signal terminal, a power terminal, and so on are formed in an up-and down-direction in the drawings, as a plurality of devices are disposed in parallel. The signal terminal among them is an element which transmits or receives an operation signal to or from a semiconductor chip. A detailed description thereof is beyond the scope of the present disclosure and thus will be omitted.
The power terminal is composed to include a “plus” input terminal 110 connected with an anode of a battery (not shown), a “minus” input terminal 120 connected with a cathode of the battery, and a first output terminal 131, a second output terminal 132, and a third output terminal 133 respectively supplying U, V, W three phase power to a motor (not shown). On the lower circuit board 200 of the conventional power module of double-side cooling, a first plus electrode 211 is connected with an eleventh semiconductor chip 241 by being connected with the plus input terminal 110, a second plus electrode 213 is connected with a twelfth semiconductor chip 242, and a third plus electrode 215 is connected with a thirteenth semiconductor chip 243. Also on the lower circuit board 200, a first minus electrode 231 is connected with a twenty-first semiconductor chip 151 by being connected with the minus input terminal 120, a second minus electrode 232 is connected with a twenty-second semiconductor chip 152, and a third minus electrode 233 is connected with a twenty-third semiconductor chip 153. Also on the lower circuit board 200, a first connection electrode 212 connects the first plus electrode 211 with the second plus electrode 213, a second connection electrode 214 connects the second plus electrode 213 with the third plus electrode 215, and a third connection electrode 230 connects the first minus electrode 231, the second minus electrode 232, and the third minus electrode 233 with the minus input terminal 120.
For preventing a short between the plus input terminal 110 and the minus input terminal 120, because each of the plus electrodes and each of the minus electrodes must be positioned apart from each other, the first connection electrode 212 and the second connection electrode 214 are mounted in an opposite direction to the third connection electrode 230. However, as the first connection electrode 212 and the second connection electrode are mounted in the same direction with the signal terminal, the circuit structure can become overly complex for preventing interference between the signal terminal and the power terminal. Particularly, as shown in FIG. 3, a current moving distance of current passing through the thirteenth semiconductor chip 243 is excessively long.
Therefore, a new input terminal structure of a power module of double-side cooling is needed to minimize stray/leak inductance, while simplifying circuit structure by decreasing the moving distance of current.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and is not intended to mean that the present disclosure falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.